Recently, I was reading a book about the experiences of a demonologist and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Warren. A demonologist is one who studies the activity of demons in their various manifestations. Ed and Lorraine Warren are two especially famous demonologists who did thousands of investigations in the United States and abroad spanning five decades in the 20th Century. Probably their most noteworthy investigation centered in the events in Amityville, NY, in the early 1970s. Their experiences became the subject of numerous books and motion pictures.

A woman pictured at the moment the Devil enters her body in a ritual of umbanda, the Brazilian voodoo

While I was reading about some of the Warrens’ lesser-known cases, I came across a line that caught my attention and gave me an idea for an article on the crisis in the Church. On page 107 of the book The Demonologist, by Gerald Daniel Brittle, it reads, “the spirit [the Devil] deliberately hides behind ambiguity in order to take hold” of a soul.

What is being referred to here is how, during the first stage of demonic activity, called infestation, the demon tries to make people believe that he is not responsible for the abnormal activity occurring in or around a house or a person. Ambiguity is a diversion which “buys the devil time” to continue working towards oppression and, finally, possession of a person, which was the demon’s goal from the very beginning.

Considering what has happened in the Church over the past half century, and consonant with my study of the causes of the crisis, my first thought was what Atila Guimaraes proved in his book, In the Murky Waters of Vatican II: that the documents of the Second Vatican Council were deliberately ambiguous to hide the true motives of the progressivists at the Council until they could gain a foothold into and control of the Church. Then, I naturally considered the crisis that came from Vatican II, which destroyed as much of the past of the Church as it could, as something similar to a demonic infestation.

When I applied the subsequent oppression against the good ones in the Church, I also saw that it fit perfectly with the second phase of the demonic process. Thus, I am naturally led to conclude that we are seeing something like a possession of the Church, which has basically followed the same patterns usually witnessed in all that leads up to the diabolical possession of a person.

I think that this question - while perhaps seeming non-applicable to some since the soul of the Church is the Holy Ghost which can never be possessed by the Devil - is quite applicable when we consider that the Church is not just divine, but also human in her nature and constitution.

Progressivism: the Devil's victory in the Church. From the top: New York, Papua, Joliet, Madrid, Assisi.

I also believe that, given the ongoing attempt to induce the Society of St. Pius X from the resistance camp into a compromise with Vatican II, what we are witnessing is something similar to an attempt for not just possession, but a perfect possession or entire possession of the Church in her human element.

According to several well-known exorcists, including Fr. Malachi Martin and Fr. Gabriel Amorthe, a perfect possession occurs when the will of the individual possessed is completely given over to the Devil. Normally, during an exorcism, the priest turns his attention from the devil or devils to the possessed individual and tries to encourage acts of his own will against the invading evil spirit(s). If the person responds to this “call to arms,” he helps the priest to drive the devil out of the body and complete the exorcism. If not, however, then he remains in grave danger of losing all personality and individuality to the devil. When this happens, only a direct act of God can reverse the otherwise irreversible possession. The exorcist is then powerless.

Analogously the Devil tries to remove all resistance to his program for perfect possession of the Catholic Church. Remember that Satan challenged Our Lord under the reign of Pope Leo XIII: “Give me 100 years and I will destroy Your Church.” Given that the Church cannot actually be destroyed, what better way to gain control than at least obtaining the entire possession of the Church by Progressivism until - just as in the case of individuals so possessed – a direct act of God is necessary?

In order to gain such an entire possession, all resistance against Progressivism has to be removed. Outside of scattered independent priests and holy souls living hundreds of miles away from any Latin Mass whatsoever, where has the most organized resistance to the Devil’s plan come from in the last twenty years?

The answer is the Society of St. Pius X. However, considering recent events showing the SSPX tending toward a compromise, it seems that Satan is on the verge of a major breakthrough, another step closer to the entire possession of the Church. Indeed, if all those who are suppose to resist give up, we have a complete victory of Progressivism represented by their adherence to Vatican Council II. In terms of demonology, this would represent the perfect possession of the Church by the Devil. While many want to give the benefit of the doubt to the “higher-ups” in the SSPX, each day it is becoming more and more difficult to do so.

At first, when the disproportionate attacks against Bishop Williamson emerged related to his supposed denial of the killing of the Jews by Nazis, I could not help but question Bishop Fellay’s decisions with regard to how he treated Bishop Williamson, basically throwing him under the bus. I know many who would concur with me in this sentiment. The most disturbing part was the misrepresentation of Bishop Williamson, as if what he said was, in and of itself, anti-Semitic. So, this led me to question Bishop Fellay’s courage and orientation.

This suspicion only grew over time as priests began to be silenced and then dismissed from the SSPX, to the point that now I no longer question just his decisions, but also his motives. I hope it is still possible to be proven that I am wrong about Bishop Fellay, which would give me great relief.

Having said that, in light of what has been reported from independent sources, not least of which Tradition in Action, it seems undeniable that the Bishop has given duplicitous impressions on where the SSPX is headed, depending upon his audience. I recall the old saying that “actions speak louder than words.” I cannot help but seriously wonder if the time lag between the “lifting” of the excommunications and full acceptance of Vatican II “in the light of Tradition” is meant to test the reactions of the SSPX priests and faithful, and weed out all dissenters against the convergence with Rome.

Time will tell. No matter what happens, all of the priests in the SSPX as well as independent priests outside of it, and just as much the laity, must stand firm in the stance that brought us to where we are at this point: a position of Catholic resistance against any teaching that opposes the previous Magisterium of the Church.

If a compromise is made, then let the wheat be separated from the chaff and let a smaller group of priests and laity be more strongly committed to the cause of the true restoration of our Sacred Traditions.

Let us show the Devil and his minions that however much he may use ambiguity to infest, oppress, and try to possess the Catholic Church through Progressivism, there will always be a remnant who will not, by the grace of God through the omnipotent intercession of Mary Most Holy, allow him to gain that complete possession of the Church that he so desires to attain.

Let us be deeply grateful for the mercy of God in allowing us to be among those who make up this tiniest part of the Body of Christ which, please God, the Devil will never own. May our resistance at this time grow and win the necessary graces so that more and more Catholic faithful will see the crisis in the Church for what it is and, sooner rather than later, drive Satan out of the Temple of the Holy Ghost, once and for all.